Children's Story Authoring with

Propp's Morphology

Sean Hammond Tim J. Smith Helen Pain

Overview1. Propp's morphology2. Exploratory, paper &

pencil study3. Computer prototype

Propp's morphology

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Propp's morphology as a

story construction kit for children

Break up plots into their constituent “functions” :

• An eagle carries the boy to the top of the highest mountain.

• A magical animal leads Suçenko to the lake at the heart of the forest.

• A fish tells Kelandra the way to the villain's castle.

➔ The hero arrives at the whereabouts of his object of search.

Propp found 31 functions in 1000 Russian wonder tales.

Propp found 31 functions in 1000 Russian wonder tales.

• Kashani, Dynamic Storylines in Interactive Virtual Environments.

• Fairclough, Story Games and the OPIATE System.

• Grasbon, Braun et al., GEIST.• Peinado et al., ProtoPropp.• Prada et al., TEATRIX.• Tomaszewski & Binsted, The Limitations of a

Propp-based Approach to Interactive Drama.

Interactive Narrative

• Rodari, The Grammar of Fantasy.

• Charles, Making traditional tales relevant for contemporary children.

Story Writing: Propp's Cards

Propp's Morphology• A tool for constructing plots.• To allow children to create well-

structured stories of their own.• To help to structure childrens' ideas,

and to generate ideas.• Interact with plots at different

structural levels.

Research Questions1. Can children use Propp's

morphology to construct stories?

2. How successfully do they use it?

3. What do they do with it?

Exploratory, paper & pencil study

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• Two week study at Collingwood Primary School, Newcastle.

• Using paper story maps and story cards.

• Children wrote their stories on the story cards with pencils.

• 42 participants aged 7-11.• Quantitative and qualitative

data.

Quantitative Results

Function: Arrival, the hero arrives at the whereabouts of the object of search.

Species a: The hero uses a mobile means of transport: animal or vehicle, magical powers, etc.

Plot Event: A tsar gives an eagle to a boy. The eagle carries the boy to the top of the highest mountain.

Plot Event: A princess gives Ivan a ring. Young men appearing from out of the ring carry Ivan away

to another kingdom.

Species b: The hero is guided: another character shows or leads the way, the hero follows a trail left by another

character, the hero follows a sign, etc.

. . .

How closely do the stories written match the Propp functions used?

Week 1, recasting: 86.96% - 90.20%Week 2, generating: 77.32% - 79.28%

The accuracy measure alone

does not account for the quality of

the stories.

Qualitative Results

“Then the super hero saw Bonanza and threw a knife at his throat and his throat split open ...

Then Bonanza started to come alive and started to chase them.”

Writing is hard work.

PracticalLimitations

A paper interface is too inflexible.

A paper interface is too limiting.

Computer prototype

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The Future

● Generate story maps without ever having seen a sample story.

● Use multiple forms of assessment:● Accuracy measure.● Teacher's assessment.● Peer assessment.

1. Can children use Propp's morphology to construct stories?

Order of Difficulty● Some Propp functions are easier than others.

● More constraints is easier: e.g. order of cards.

● Some constraints can be challenges: e.g. start with a difficult card.

Summary1. Propp's morphology2. Exploratory, paper &

pencil study3. Computer prototype